Tuesday
Leftist Hatred and Republican Disappointments
I very much pride myself on being open-minded. I feel that I listen to opposing arguments, dissect the information and then formulate my thoughts based upon my own analytical abilities. Leftists would claim to have a corner on this thought process. Their claim is that they are the enlightened, intellectually superior, and most open to new ideas. Leftists are actually quite aggressive toward conservative thinkers - usually focusing on the latter's supposed lack of tolerance.
The left claims to have a lock on the tolerance ideal too. They will often say that the right is closed to new thinking, stuck in the past or subject to some prejudged thought process. Why do so many leftists refuse to enter into honest debate over the issues? My experience into these exchanges have been frequently met with anger and hostility. That is if you are able to enter the disagreement at all i.e. some liberals are introspective enough to realize that they own tolerance for the other opinion is incredibly low.
But, the problem lies in the lack of debate doesn't it? The arena of ideas in the U.S. has been destroyed. The left has labeled every opposing argument with a moniker of hate, phobia or extremist tag. This is truly their means of avoiding the arena. If they label the opposition, the opposition can thus be categorized as narrow in their intellectual capacities. The conservative thinker can be put in a category in which their argument is predictable and of no substance.
The fact is that most conservatives DO care. Further, they do not want to be thought of as hateful or intolerant. Often, the fear tactics of the Left cause conservatives to fear revealing who they truly are. Nowhere is this more evident in the Republican Congress.
Congressional Republicans have fallen prey to the Leftists across the aisle, special-interest groups and the liberal media. They have failed to uphold their principals - regardless of the fact that we relied upon those principals as we moved them into office. Republicans and other Conservatives need to know how they came to their conclusions, hold fast to their convictions, and carry the banner they painted - no matter what the others may say.
Will
Comments:
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Maybe you, better than an average American, can explain why Americans in general have such low opinions of Communists? I've tended to view communism a little more charitably, but moving to the US (from India) 5 years ago was an eye opener. For the first time I heard about the McCarthy era, and was surprised that even now in American politics, to be branded a communist is a politician's death knell.
I read your post about Reagan's faith, and thought it would be nice to chat with you. I'd written about America's reaction to communism in another post too
I read your post about Reagan's faith, and thought it would be nice to chat with you. I'd written about America's reaction to communism in another post too
Thank you Pram. Nice comments. I think the American philosophy on Communism goes back to the original founders that wanted to move our country to one of "individual pursuit of happiness". The original idea behind communism is probably very well meaning - an equitable distribution of wealth to all in equal share. But, many feel that individuals, acting on their own behalf, will ultimately cause the greatest welfare for all. The argument is backed-up by the overall wealth of our nation - the poor in our country are very wealthy by international standards. It is our duty however to act compassionately to feed and care for those unable to do so themselves. Here is where we fall short a lot of times. Any thoughts?
Will
Will
Pram, one more comment about the Reagan post. Reagan's concern was that the movement to communism in the USSR caused the death of so many people and that the population was unable to exercise their God-given individual liberties. He didn't hate the people of the USSR - neither do I (my son is from there!). But, he wanted the people to choose their own destiny. McCarthy was wrong. That was not the message to send to those that disagreed with him. A lot of that action was based on fear. Thanks again.
Will
Will
I agree about your comments about party affiliations and, how they often predicate sound policy decisions. However, the Right vs. Left arguments are based upon value systems - the idea of whether you are left or right of center. This seems to be more substantive to me [than merely party affiliations].
W
W
My personal experience with communism is a purely visceral emotion. I think red square, Cuban Missile Crisis, the movie "red dawn" (i know, i know....).. I agree with you that in its core the Communist credo has a valid and maybe even honorable intent. As Pram so well put it, I'm certain there are places in the world governed under that flag with admirable results. But my dearest Pram, if literacy rate percentages translated into economic and personal freedoms, then what the hell happened to Cuba? I'd like to think I'm open minded about any social forms of lifestyles and self-governance, but Communism is still that pimple in the Gluteus Maximus kinda' thing. You really don't know how you feel about it,... till you sit down.
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